The Composer and The Muse
by angelheartz
Summary: "It's raining." "So you think I should just stay here?" "Yes." "Okay, then." -Natsu and Lucy Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

She stretched out on her bed, her long fingers digging in the soft covers of the mattress. She glared daggers at the ceiling as an attempt to prevent herself from crying. With a sigh, she pulled her blanket over head and she pulled her folded legs toward her chest.

The skies were cloudy and dark, it was raining, and the wind felt like it should be wild. From afar, you could see that the sun rose happily but that happiness was thwarted by the weather. The raindrops created a moving melody to the half-asleep blonde. It made her think of a song her past lover sang to her.

She winced. _'Past...lover?' _She frowned at the weather, cursing it and soon after, she fell asleep.

* * *

_The sakura trees bloomed radiantly. Its branches swayed with the wind, giving off a soothing effect. The sun later on was exposed and the light made the sight even more breathtaking. _

_A certain blonde was enjoying the scene, her hair flowing behind her and her cheeks were beautifully painted pink. Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around her figure, causing her to jump. When she turned around, she sighed and hugged the person back._

"_You scared me, Gray." She said, nuzzling into his neck's curve. She pulled away from him. "Why did you call me out here? Is something wrong?"_

_Gray took a step back and let his bangs cover his eyes completely. _

"_Well," She continued, facing the nearby river. "I can wait... Just pinch me if you're ready, okay? You know me when I'm imagining scenes for my novel." She smiled and towards him again, only to be shocked. _

_She shrieked, grabbing articles of clothing that were unsuccessfully blown away by the wind and shoved them to the nude teen. Her carefree expression went 180 degrees at the scene. "What the fuck, Gray? I told you not to strip in public! How many times do I have to tell you that?"_

_He stared at her, as if what she was saying passed in the left ear and went out immediately at the right ear. But the latter was true. "Huh?" He said, and that enraged her more. _

_She pulled out a whip from god-knows-where and started making cracking noises. The poor black-haired teen trembled under her gaze. He started sweating buckets and he had an urge to pee, scared of the blonde's wrath. "Luce, I'm sorry I really didn't understand. I swear I didn't!"_

"_How the heck is that supposed to make me feel better?"_

_He grabbed her and pulled her closer to him, her breasts banging hard against his hard chest, but she payed no attention to that as soon as his cool lips met hers. "How about that?" He asked, catching his breath. He noticed the blonde; her eyes were half-closed, her cheeks grew warmer, and she was quiet-and he took her actions as a yes. _

"_So, Luce. About what I was supposed to say..."_

"_Hmm," replied the blonde, who was still coming out of her fantasy._

"_I think we shouldn't see each other anymore."_

* * *

She sat up from her bed, panting and crying. She noticed that she was clutching something, then she realized...she almost suffocated herself with her own pillow. She laid herself back on her bed, and she clutched the pillow to her chest.

The dream was real and so it left deep wounds in the heart of the blonde's; it was never healed since she kept reliving it in her unconscious state. There were nights that she woke up, screaming and her lips were bloody from her biting them. All the maids were especially worried about Lucy, but whenever they brought the topic up, she dissolved it with a wave of her hand. Her father, on the other hand, appeared to show no interest in his own daughter's problems.

There was a knock on the door.

"Umm, Lucy-sama, breakfast is served on the long table. Also, Jude-sama said that he needs to talk to you in his study after you eat breakfast." The doorknob turned and the door swung open, revealing the head maid, Spetto-san. Lucy shot up and roughly wiped off her tears. "Are you okay, Lucy-sama?"

"It's nothing of your concern, Spetto-san." She replied politely and smiled. She turned her back at the worried maid, and headed to the bathroom.

She turned on the faucet of the shower, and slowly soaped her body. She tilted up her head, letting all of her thoughts go, but her dream earlier kept creeping to her thoughts. Tears started flowing once again, and she turned off the faucet when she was sure that she was free from any suds. She stumbled out the shower area and she went in front of the bathroom mirror. She brushed her teeth, and went back to her bedroom, where she changed into her school uniform.

She continued to the dining area, where abundant choices of food were artistically designed by the maids and the chefs. She muttered a silent 'thank you' while passing by them and sat in her seat, which was at the other end of the long table. Opposite of her seat was her father's, where a neatly folded newspaper and a cup of tea positioned at the exact centre of its coaster sat. Her father always gave her a lecture about becoming a real lady like her late mother so that she would be worthy to marry a prince from far away and to carry on their family's riches. She would always scoff whenever that subject was brought to light, and her father would always get angry, so she would be sent back to her chambers.

After she finished eating her breakfast, she headed to the corridor where her father's study was located, and she stopped before a gigantic, mahogany door. She knocked three times and breathed out, "Father, I shall enter". The door opened and revealed her father, his face full of wrinkles because of old age, and white strands of hair that blended magnificently in his ash blond hair. His forehead was rested on the huge glass window that provided light to the study, and it proved as a perfect reading area. He turned his head towards her voice and smiled sadly at Lucy. She was surprised at her father, for the only facial expression that he showed her ever since her mother died was his serious, business-minded face.

"Lucy," he began, and Lucy stiffed at his voice. "are you okay?"

She felt numb when her father asked her a question that he never asked. She felt suspicious. She glared at her father and spat at him, "Why are you trying to get me to marry a man I won't even love? What, do you think I'm so stupid to think that you wouldn't dare to use a fake expression to fool me? I don't care about the family's riches, and I most certainly DON'T care about you!"

"Wha- Wait, Lucy!"

"Don't come after me!"

She turned her back at her father furiously and stomped out of his study. She returned to the dining area, grabbed her school bag, and stomped towards the family car. The driver fumbled with his keys and successfully started the car. The car soon stopped in front of her school, Fairy Academy.

* * *

She propped up her arms on her elbows and she rested her chin on her palms. Her health teacher entered, and sat on the teacher's chair. He took a long breath, rummaged in his pockets, and brought out a pipe and a matchstick. He started smoking and told the entire class to turn to page 46 of their health book. The entire class sweat dropped.

"U-u-umm, Wakaba-sensei..."started a student. "Isn't smoking bad? And illegal within school premises?"

Wakaba raised an eyebrow at his student. "I'm not a student. Now go and open your darn books."

Erza spoke up, standing straight and stiff. "Sensei, according to our student handbook, section 3, paragraph 8: Teachers should be a walking example to all of the students of Fairy Academy, inside or outside of school premises. Section 5, Paragraph 2: Illegal activities such as SMOKING, gambling, drinking of alcoholic beverages shall not be tolerated, no exceptions. Also, we don't have health books, and this is not your period. This time should be Math period, just in case you were wondering." She finished, smiling sickeningly sweet at Wakaba-sensei. The aura around her was vividly menacing, but her words and her mood seemed to do nothing to make the teacher back down.

"What if I wanted it to be my period?"He answered. Erza's nails dug deep in her table, and the entire class was frozen stiff. No one talks back to Erza, and he should've known better. Not too long later, her eyeballs turned purely white and she smiled, showing off her especially sharp fangs.

'_If I remember clearly, I never noticed that she had those,'_ thought the entire class.

A blinding light filled the class, and once the room's brightness returned to normal, all they could see was an unconscious and pale Wakaba.

Moments later, it was time, the entire Math period has ended and Lucy sighed happily, rejoicing that there's no Math for today. The bell rang and it was finally lunch break.

* * *

As she entered her classroom, class 3-A, their school president was scolding a certain stripper. Their school president was a red-head, she wore glasses and she had a short temper; majority of the students fear her, especially if her cake or glasses are taken away from her.

"Class pres!" called out Levy, the best friend and fellow bookworm of Lucy. "It seems he was caught walking to school in his boxers. About 14 of the girls that witnessed him are in the infirmary, I guess they've run out of blood from nose bleeding." She giggled, signalling that she has finished.

"Levy-chan, I told you already not to call me that..." Lucy hugged her best friend. She put on her best smile and skipped towards their school president. "Erza, let him go already. Look, he's at the brink of fainting."

Erza sighed and fixed her glasses. Gray shivered once he saw the menacing glint in her eyes. "I guess it can't be helped, then. I'll let go of you just this once, the next time you'll strip again in public, I'll punish you myself." Then she turned to Lucy. Gray saw this as an opportunity to escape from the sight of the terrifying red-head and turned away, without muttering anything like a thank you to his saviour. Lucy felt a sharp pain in her chest and she tried her best to not let it show.

"So, Lucy..."purred Erza. Erza had only a few friends (Lucy was one of them), since she was naturally shy and her armour was her being nonchalant about everything. Lucy knew this but she just can't help being scared of her friend. "Have you checked the attendance yet? Remember to give me the log book when you're done, okay?"

She nodded. "Everyone is present, except Natsu Dragneel. I don't know what's his problem is, but he has never been present...even at the first day of school. Erza, aren't you really close with him?" Erza nodded. "Also, Jet was late this morning. How ironic, he's even the champion of the world marathon event." She gave the black log book to Erza, which she gladly accepted. She muttered something about killing people from 3-B for not giving their log book for three months and left.

At that moment, girls from 3-B were chattering loudly about a famous singer. "You know Yuusuke Haru? He's so~ hot!"; "Oh, Winter? Yeah, he is! You know he has a World Tour? It started since a week before our first day of school and I heard today was his last day in the WT. Japan's his last stop..."; "Aww, man! I wish it was a weekend, I would totally go to his concert."

"Winter?"Lucy asked.

"He's a really talented singer and a super smart person!"Levy answered. "Some girls think he's hot but I really don't think so.. Here, look." She pulled out a poster from her bag. The guy was slim, he sat on a wooden stool, and held a beautifully polished guitar. He had pointy, messy black hair, amber eyes, and slightly tanned skin.

'_Yuusuke Haru, huh?'_

"For all I know, he could be gay or something."

"No, he's not! Anyway, can I read your book? I'm so excited."

"Sure." She handed her a thin, red book.

"Thanks! I'm just so happy that you got over Gray. How do you do it?" Levy babbled on, and stopped at a page, speechless. "Ahh. I can see the stress from the breakup got killed...with the characters in the story. Isn't this supposed to be a romantic/comedy? Why do they have to die?"

And so, Lucy was scolded for two straight hours, Levy didn't even care that the teacher was bothered by her loud argument with her best friend (who was busy writing several apology letters).

* * *

The bell rang twice, signalling dismissal time. When they left the classroom, Levy fumed (yes, she's still that angry) and so Lucy made up an excuse to cover up her real intention, to give the apology letters in the faculty room.

"Sorry, Levy-chan. I really need to go to the restroom." Levy kept on insisting thus Lucy said, "Oh, come on, Levy-chan... Surely you don't want to hear my bladder erupting, now, would you?"

The thought of it made Levy feel sick and Lucy successfully fled.

She walked down the corridors and passed through a tight passageway. She entered the room and bowed deeply in front of all the teachers that her friend had ignored cruelly. After the teachers accepted her apology, she sighed and skipped along the corridor. As she passed by an intersection of corridors, she noticed a flash of pink. Curious, she paused to see if it would appear again, but seeing as there would be no reason for it to, she returned to her destination.

The blonde reached her best friend and noticed her staring far away, as if something big had happened. Levy smiled at Lucy, and pulled her by the arm.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II: Somebody's Somebody**

* * *

She woke up, screaming and crying. Her golden locks were unkempt and damp, her eyes tender from waking up, and her whole body was trembling. She had dreamt of the breakup again and she felt like she was dying.

It was 5:25 in the morning and surely the maids downstairs must've heard her. She waited for at least one or two of them to arrive in front of her door, knocking frantically, but they didn't. She pondered over her actions towards them whenever the breakup was brought up, and she realized that the maids probably didn't want her to know that they were concerned, since she might feel troubled that she was affecting them... and she did feel that way.

She tried to sleep, but the mental images of her and Gray together kept on appearing. She felt a vein pop in her head and she dismissed the thought by wrecking every single thing that reminded her of the bastard; an advice given by Levy to deal with a broken heart. It didn't seem like a sane thing to do, but Lucy was desperate enough to do it. Grinning, she ripped the completed novel (the one where everyone died) and every picture she had with him to pieces and burned them in her room's fireplace. The book was basically a journal of her relationship with Gray before. She watched the papers turn to a crisp and she poked the ashes with an unused curtain rod.

* * *

Two hours passed and Lucy was still not satisfied. She groaned and prepared for school, creating a mental checklist for the 'what-to-bring' and for the 'to dos'. As soon as she finished completing everything in the checklist, a maid stopped her in her tracks.

"Lucy-sama, Jude-sama is calling you to his study." Lucy frowned, which was luckily not noticed by the maid.

"I'm sorry. I'm needed at school... I have things to do there." She really was needed at school, but she hid the fact that she didn't want to see her father for a while.

"Well, I guess it can't be helped." The maid smiled at Lucy. Lucy felt her chest ache when she saw that the maid actually believed her. She hated lying to them. But once again, she wasn't ready to be in the same room with her old man. "You are an important member of your classroom. I shall tell Jude-sama, then. May you have a safe trip, Lucy-sama."

* * *

She skipped happily towards the high school building, grinning at every familiar face she came across. All of them smiled nervously and she felt suspicious about their behaviour. After seeing that, her curious thoughts grew even more, when she passed through a group of friends talking about a fight in front of class 3-A. Upon hearing this, she dashed towards the building.

There were shrieks behind her and when she turned her head, she saw a very angry Erza, running at full speed in her demon form. Her hair was formed like the head of Medusa's, her eyes were purely white, and her fingers were razor-sharp. Lucy felt a chill run down her spine as Erza ran alongside Lucy.

"So I take it you heard that dumbasses were starting a riot, huh? I was enjoying my usual piece of strawberry shortcake in the nearby cafe, and then I heard that there was trouble in front of our classroom. I was so surprised that I accidentally pushed my table, and... and..."

Lucy gulped. _'Yup, they're dead.'_

Erza clenched her fists. "They're going to pay for this!"

They reached the classroom, and noticed a crowd forming in the corridor. There were shouts, squeals, and a mountain of passed out girls having a nosebleed.

They hovered over the crowd, revealing a butt-naked Gray and a pink-haired stranger. They were punching each other but both sides showed that they didn't feel like stopping their nonsense.

"You guys..." growled Erza. The crowd's heads turned slowly to the voice and shrieked, retreating.

Erza dragged the guys to the principal's office with Lucy following her, and poor them, the way there was under construction. Their butts experienced hell; cement, hot metal, shattered pieces of glass, salt, small cacti plants, several porcupines and sea urchins. The four questioned the latter objects' presence, then they remembered how weird their principal was, so they chose to forget the matter.

In the principal's office, the walls were painted beige and decorated with several photographs of the school's festivities, there were leather couches forming a circle in the middle of the room, and the wooden floor was covered by a lilac carpet. Across the room was a soundproof door leading to the private library of the principal. The principal's desk was just behind the couches, nearest the soundproof door.

Erza threw them to the wall and an umbrella stand caught them after their faces went splat against the wall. The two retards were exhausted and hurting from the torture they received earlier.

"Mind telling me your reason for the commotion so early in the morning?" She asked. The retards stiffed at the growl erupting from her throat. She glared at them and immediately looked away, blushing. "Before you answer that, Gray, your clothes."

Gray cursed and ran behind the curtain to change. Lucy rolled her eyes at her ex's habit of stripping and decided to interrogate the other.

"Can I hear your explanation for your behaviour awhile ago?" She looked at the guy, his eyes were pointy and seductive, his skin was lightly tanned and his spiky pink hair was messy. _'Wait, pink?' _"What kind of guy dyes their hair pink?"

He stood up. "It's salmon and it's my natural hair colour."

Lucy raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, incredulous. "Fine, I'll accept that part where you said it' your natural hair colour, just maybe. But whatever you say, it's obviously pink."

"Salmon."

"Pink."

"Salmon."

"Pink."

"You're incredibly difficult to deal with." He grunted and sat back down.

"I know. What's your name? I'm Lucy, by the way." She stretched out her hand and he gladly shook it.

"Natsu. Natsu Dragneel."

"I'm sorry but, have we met before?" She asked. He just smiled at her.

"And I'm Happy, not that anyone cares," said a blue cat. Lucy's eyes widened, obviously surprised. "I am a talking cat sent from planet Edolas to obliterate you."

"What does that mean?"

"Nice to meet you."

Lucy sat on a chair and mumbled to herself. "This day's just getting weirder and weirder. Men with natural pink hair and talking cats. I'm going insane."

"Okay, then." Gray said, walking back in complete attire but when he sat back down on the couch everything disappeared except for his boxers. Erza fumed again but Lucy pinched her and she calmed down.

The soundproof door opened, revealing a short man with white hair, holding a phone. He struggled getting on his chair and after his umpteenth try, he successfully reached his goal.

"Yes, of course that plan will be made into action. I'm sure the student council will think of something exciting." He grinned at Erza and Lucy.

The entire student council is made of the president (Erza), the vice president (Mirajane), and the class presidents of all grade levels.

"Actually, they're here now because of other reasons. Sure, sure. Bye." He laid the phone on his desk and looked at the girls. "Forgive these lads just this once, Erza." She nodded. "That was Yajima-san from the Department of Education. He said that if we make this year's school festival a success, he'll let our school off the leash from finding fights with other schools." He eyed Natsu and Gray.

"Master, would you like me to punish these idiots?" Erza said, smiling menacingly at the two.

Natsu raised his hands. "Hey, I have no hand in that. But what I'd do just to defeat droopy eyes over here."

"Oh yeah? Wanna go?" Gray snapped. A vein popped in Erza's head and she grabbed both heads and bumped them together. Lucy sweat dropped.

Gray sighed in defeat and crossed his arms. "It's Gajeel who's looking for fights. You know me, I can't risk having my image destroyed."

"Well, for a self-proclaimed model that becomes famous sitting on benches, I don't think there is an image to destroy." Natsu said, pissing off Gray.

"I am a Bench model! A model that works for the fashion company, Bench!" He retorted. "Idiot."

"Right back at you." They glared at each other and Lucy swore she could really see something lightning-like shooting out of their eyes.

"Wait, stop!", said Lucy, and the two stopped fighting. They turned their attention to her. "You guys seem close. How do you know each other?"

Natsu grinned at her. "We're old friends, from middle school." Gray nodded.

"Anyway," continued Makarov. "I think the festival should be really grand, meaning the venue is the whole of Magnolia. Also, I want to beat those darn academies that think they could look down at us, especially Blue Pegasus, Fairy Academy will top you all!"

"Yeah!" answered everybody.

"So I'll leave the plans to you, Erza. The student council should have a meeting regarding this event and you will inform me of the final plan next week. You're dismissed."

* * *

A girl with long dark blue hair was having a hard time walking with a heap of books from the classroom. She sighed, annoyed that the teacher picked the smallest of the girls to carry quite a burden, literally. She shook her head and went up the flight of stairs in front of her. She was too occupied that she made a wrong step, and she fell backwards.

"Watch out!", shouted a voice.

She waited for unbearable pain to follow, but when she opened her eyes, she was on the floor, with someone hugging her protectively. She turned towards her hero an when she did, her face was centimetres away from a black haired teen. Her eyes travelled his face and her keen senses of smell were overwhelmed by his masculine scent. She finally noticed their closeness and untangled herself from him, blushing.

"Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah."

"I'm Romeo." He grinned at her and she found herself speechless. She pulled herself from her reverie when she noticed his curious eyes.

"Then I must be Juliet." She clamped her mouth and felt her cheeks grow even hotter. "I mean, my name's Wendy. I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong." He let out a throaty laugh. "You're weird."

Wendy pouted.

He picked up books from the pile Wendy was carrying awhile ago. She stopped him.

"Stop. It's my job to do it. I don't want to bother you anymore."

"It's no big deal. Let me, or you'll regret it later." She nodded obediently and walked beside him, thinking. _'I think I'm falling for you... and I won't ever regret it.'_

* * *

Erza was shocked. She wasn't the only one, but she had the strongest flow of emotions in this particular moment. Her first love, her best friend transferred in _her_ school and in _her_ class. The ladies in their class felt particularly infatuated with the guy standing in front of them and that infuriated Erza. That fury soon faded when she noticed that he winked at her, confirming that he remembered her.

"Meet your new classmate, Jellal Fernandez.", introduced the teacher. Or at least tried to. The girls were shrieking and at that exact second, was the birth of Jellal Fan Club. "You will sit..."

"I'll sit beside Erza, thank you." He decided, and the teacher only nodded.

Erza blushed when he sat to her left, and she blushed even more when he came closer. His lips tickled her ear and she felt every hair in her body stand at that mere touch. She maintained her composure and waited for him to talk.

"I missed you, Erza-chan." He purred.

"Me too." She whispered, making sure that only he heard her.

He smiled and sat properly. She looked out the window, silently thanking the fates for her giving her a chance to be with him again. She was hell-bent on spending her free time with him as possible and unknown to her, he wanted the same thing.

* * *

Lucy arrived at home and collapsed on her bed, without even bothering to change into her home clothes. She shut her eyes and groaned; she was anxious to know who saved her.

She was on a ladder in the library earlier when she accidentally let go of a book and tried to catch it, but failed miserably and fell. Before she hit the floor, someone caught her and the ladder became unbalanced and tumbled in their direction. Luckily though, that person raised their arm as a shield and left her unharmed. She was sure that the person that saved her was a guy since his arms were so muscular and she was also sure that the guy was hurt since when the ladder hit his arm, he let out a whimper. She didn't get to thank him since he ran off really fast.

She smiled at herself and stood up, opening her wardrobe. She grabbed a loose red t-shirt and a pair of black jogging pants and put them on after stripping off her school uniform. Soon after she changed, she grabbed a plate of chocolate chip cookies from the kitchen and returned to her room. She played slow music on her mp3 player and grabbed her pillow, swaying with it as if it were a human being.

There was a fast rap on her window. Her head turned immediately at the sound and she saw a pink-haired teenager grinning goofily at her, drenched because of the rain.

"Lucy, what the hell are you doing? Stop raping the pillow!" He exclaimed and she threw the pillow at the glass window, which made him chuckle.

"Why are you here? Moreover, how did you know where I lived?"

"I borrowed some techniques from a stalker friend." He joked. Lucy gaped at him. "Nah. I looked in the class roster."

"You didn't answer my first question."

"I'm hungry." He eyed the untouched plate and pouted at her. She glared at him.

"Am I a fast food chain to you?"

He rolled his eyes. "If you're not going to feed me, can you at least open the window?"

"It's raining."

"So you think I should just stay here?"

"Yes."

"Okay, then." He nodded and put his jacket over his head.

The balcony was about to form a small pond because of the rain and she felt guilty leaving the idiot outside. She sighed and opened the door. He stared at her curiously.

"Oh, just get your butt inside."

He entered, his entire outfit drenched in rainwater. She headed to her closet and pulled out a towel and some clothes Gray left. She threw the clothes to him and pushed him quietly to her bathroom; she didn't want her maids to find out about it because it would be a long term gag in the Heartfilia Konzern.

When he exited the bathroom, she gawked at him. He was wearing a red sweater and black denim jeans with a pair of white Vans shoes with black stripes. She thought he looked very attractive then she shook the thought away, mentally kicking herself.

"Thanks." He smiled. "Oh, look! We've got a pair look going on!" She blushed.

'_How could I not have seen that?'_, she thought.

She pulled her t-shirt awkwardly and to add to her embarrassment, Natsu swung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.

She dragged him back to her bedroom and gave him the cookies, which he gratefully ate in exactly 47 seconds. She sat beside him and brushed off crumbs on his chin. Her face inched closer to his, and then she noticed his curious eyes. She blushed and pushed him away.

"You're weird, Luigi." He swung his arm over her again and she slapped it away. Natsu winced and withdrew his arm. He lightly rubbed the sore area. "Jeez, Luigi. You're so mean."

She noticed his reaction and pulled his arm. She pulled up his sleeve and gasped at the bruise. "What happened?"

Natsu grunted and stood up. He pulled the sleeve down and he scratched the back of his head. "It's nothing."

"What do you mean it's nothing? That bruise is like a tattoo of the whole frigging Asia!"

He chuckled and smirked at her. "Am I hallucinating? Does Luigi care for me?"

"Shut up, idiot! Go home, you perverted stalker... And it's Lucy. Got it?" She tugged his sweater and pushed him back to the balcony, and thankfully, the rain stopped. She threw an umbrella to his face and shut the door.

"Wait, Luce!" He called out. She looked at him. "Thanks." And he jumped off the balcony.

'_That bruise... did he? Was he the one that saved me? Naw, Luce. You're just imagining things.'  
_

She let herself fall on her bed and blushed, pulling up her blanket to cover her face. She exhaled sharply and buried her face in the depths of her pillows, falling asleep in the process.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter III: What's on your Mind?**

* * *

Its Friday already (a week from Natsu's first home visit), and she felt like a total slug. She was tired because of student council meetings that were long and dragging for the past four days and another reason would be Natsu's after school visits to her home. She was also kind of relieved since Erza told her that she need not attend the meetings if she were tired and she was grateful to her.

She flew off to her own merry world. As she was walking through the shelves of romantic novels, the earth shook, and later on, she was being buried in the books.

"Lu-chan," said Levy. She shook her best friend, who was staring off into space. "Lu-chan, I'm dying."

She snapped out of it. "What?"

"Finally! I have been trying to talk to you for ages... Anyway, let's hang out this Saturday, just us girls and I was asking you if we could do it in your house instead. What do you think?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll ask the chef later if he can make a brilliant heap of food. How many are we?"

"Wait," she brought out a blue notebook and flipped to the back page. "There are five of us: you, of course, me, Erza, Wendy, Cana, and Mirajane-san. I haven't asked Erza-san yet, so could you do me a favour and ask her?"

"No problem. I'm going to see her later anyway." She smiled. "So, tell me, who's the cute guy that you told me last week? You know, when you pulled me along."

"Well, he's not really cute..."She doodled on a notebook, blushing. "...others might not even think he's attractive, but I really like him. He's kind and strong..." She slammed the notebook shut. "...and none of your business. I can't believe that you talked me into telling you something like this!"

"Sorry, sorry."

"No fair. At least tell me something about your new crush." Lucy raised an eyebrow at her. "You obviously haven't had those nightmares for over a week now, so I just thought that you might've had a newfound love."

"He's not my crush. He's just a perverted stalker from the planet of the pigs." Levy giggled. "He seriously eats a lot. I mean a lot! He ate a whole darn plate with a huge pile of cookies within a minute."

"You sure do fall for weird men."

"I'm telling you, I don't like him that way!"

"You don't know that! Remember, Gray had to confess to you five times before you finally got it. Natsu may be a perverted stalker, but what if he really liked you? Loved you even?"

Lucy considered Levy's questions, as if they were true. Her heart began to throb and she clutched her chest. She looked questionably at Levy. "How did you know who he was?"

"Well, one: there's no one I know that can eat a whole plate of cookies that is attractive so I thought, what about that new guy?" She giggled. "Two: I know your type; the fun, attractive pervert type.

Lucy sweat dropped. "You're trying to say that I'm an open book."

Levy nodded. Lucy groaned and she buried her face in her palms. "Chill, girl. You're an open book only to me. Nobody else knows you the way I do. At least nobody I know."

"I need to relax." She sighed.

* * *

She was shrieking on the inside. She thought that he would ignore her after the accident but it seemed like that only made him pay special attention to her. As much as she would like for him to notice her, she wanted for her heart to stop jumping and for the oxygen around her to circulate better since she was hyperventilating, but what could she do, because she fell for him.

His eyes momentarily caught her gaze and he smiled gleefully at her. She felt her cheeks go red and she turned around. Noticing this, Romeo frowned and went to her. He tapped her shoulder and Wendy's heart started to jump out of her chest.

"Did I do something to insult you or maybe hurt you?" He asked, worry in his face.

"N-no. Not at all." She stammered.

He sighed and beamed at her. "Glad to hear that."

Her friends went to her almost immediately after he left. They tickled her and she laughed.

"You like each other!"

Wendy blushed. "I don't know..."

"Then ask him, duh."

"I can't."

"And why is that so?"

"I'll just stammer so hard again and trip before I even take a step near him and that would make him... not like me."

"Stammer? I'm sure you'll do. Trip? Not sure. But you'll never know if you don't do it."

"Fine." She took a step and froze in her tracks. She turned sharply and lunged at her friends, who caught her easily. "I can't do it."

"It's okay... Men are supposed to be the ones who make the first move, right?"

"Yeah, I'm not totally sure of that." Her friends altogether made a questioning sound. "The first time we met, he told me: "I'm Romeo" and I answered: "Then I must be Juliet"."

They gaped at her. "You didn't."

"I did."

They laughed and teased her for the entire day, and she felt even more embarrassed when they pushed her to him. She fell in his arms and both Wendy and Romeo blushed. The girls felt like teasing both of them so they brought out a camera and took several pictures of them.

* * *

A white-haired man in music room C shook his head, and strummed his guitar once more. He was having trouble creating a line in a song he was making for a certain someone. He groaned, and tried to think of a simple line without describing her as a 'real man'. He knew he would get hit on the head if he placed that there.

"If everything could ever feel this real forever." He wrote on the paper then smacked his forehead. "It feels corny. Nevertheless, doing this feels manly!" He punched the air and continued writing.

After finishing his song, his bladder started jumping around. He exited the room and headed to the restroom then he heard a faint tune of a playing guitar. He noticed that the tune was vaguely familiar and so he crept behind the unlocked door of room E. He peeked in the gap of the door and the wall and saw a pink haired guy singing.

_And all I can breathe is your life  
And sooner or later it's over  
I just don't want to miss you tonight_

His eyes widened in realization when he realized who he was.

"Yuusuke... Haru.." he breathed out. He pushed open the door and met a pair of onyx eyes that were filled with panic.

"Hey, Elfman! Nice to see you here." He laughed nervously.

"So, you're really him, huh."

He tilted his head innocently. "What are you talking about?"

"That you're really Winter."

"I'm not a season but if I were, I would be Summer." He sweat dropped and smiled falsely. _'What the heck am I talking about?'_

"I knew you for about three years now, I know if you can't lie."

Natsu let out an exasperated sigh. _'Right, he is Lisanna's and Mira's brother. Time in middle school with the Strauss siblings wasn't quite happy-go-lucky when they started stalking me because of god-knows-what. Besides, if Gramps hears that I screwed up again like I did with Gray, I'm toast. I better make a deal or something.'_

"Ummm..." He started.

"Yeah." Elfman grunted and looked at Natsu questioningly.

'_You have his attention! Talk, you idiot! Damn, his stare is unnerving.'_

He cursed under his breath. He turned to Elfman. "Can you promise not to tell anyone about this whole thing? I swear I'll do anything."

"Well," Elfman racked his brain to fill the 'anything' part. He handed the music book with the song. "You can sing this for the incoming festival. Don't worry, I can tell sis to insert Yuusuke Haru in the schedule. I'm sure she'll love the idea."

"I don't know..."

"Do it." He growled and Natsu recalled Elfman's codename before: 'Beast Soul' (and to pair with that was Mira's 'Satan Soul', which no one dares to see).

He sweat dropped. "Yeah, sure. Thanks for saving my ass, I guess?"

"You're welcome. Now go save mine." He laughed and they shook hands, sealing their contract.

* * *

Her amethyst eyes fluttered open, and her entire body felt heavy. She fell asleep while she was creating the plans for the festival. She lifted her head groggily and she found herself face-to-face with a blue-haired wonder.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." He smirked, waving a white folder in her face. "You fell asleep so I took the liberty of fixing the papers that decorated the floor quite nicely awhile ago."

She stirred in her seat and grabbed the folder. She flipped through the pages in the folder, and saw that the arrangement was the same as she would've done herself. She groaned, and banged her head on the table.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked. He neared her face and stared in her eyes.

She blushed and looked away. _'How the hell can he be so cute?'_

"It's just... I wanted to be the one to do that. I'm sorry if I bothered you." She whispered, embarrassed. A light chuckle erupted from him.

"It's fine with me." He answered, dragging a chair in front of the desk. He sat. She lifted her head up and beamed at him.

"Thank you, Jellal."

He played with her scarlet locks and gazed in her eyes. "Are you free this Saturday? I know this great Italian place where—"

"—there are Italians?" she finished, giggling. He chuckled.

"Er, not really. It has a great view of the sunset." She blushed. "We'll need to catch up, right, as close childhood friends? It has been quite some time since we talked." She frowned slightly. _'Friend-zoned.'_

"I'm sure if I have plans, I can reschedule. I know where this place is, anyway. I pass by it on the way to the mall." She answered. He nodded.

"Tomorrow at 5:30, okay?" He rose from his seat and walked out the door.

"Okay."

He peeked back and winked at her. "It's a date." And he went away.

She slumped back on her seat, buried her flushed face in her folded arms, and stomped, squealing. She peeked at his seat and recalled him playing with her hair. She grinned at herself. _'I guess not completely friend-zoned.'_

All of a sudden, an eating blonde and a pink-haired retard entered, having an argument. Erza jumped up from her seat at the timing of the duo. She thought of scolding the two for making such a ruckus in the student council room but their conversation distracted her from doing so.

"'To eat or not to eat' is my motto. Shakespeare said so, too." Natsu pouted. He eyed the blonde's dessert, which was Jell-O with three ice cream scoops; strawberry, mango, and chocolate. "Now can I have at least one or ten spoons of ice cream? It's like I said, to eat or not to eat. I choose eat."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "How about you stop eyeing my food? It's losing it flavour because of you sniffing it like some kind of mammal. And it's supposed to be 'to be or not to be', you dimwit. Another question is when you started reading Shakespeare; it's kind of weird for you, isn't it?" She glared at him. "Fine. I'll let you have a scoop—"Natsu smiled childishly. He clapped like a two year old and opened his mouth, signalling Lucy to feed him. "—if you stop raiding my refrigerator for eternity." Her eyes glinted and she grinned at him maniacally.

He sulked and stuck his tongue out at Lucy. Erza almost—emphasis on the 'almost'—guffawed at the retard's expression because she pinched herself to stop herself from laughing.

"Darn, you're tight." He huffed.

Erza and Lucy blushed. "That sounds wrong."

"I meant strict. What were you thinking?" The two girls felt themselves burst into flames from embarrassment (they thought of a perverted meaning) and he raised an eyebrow at Lucy. "And you call me a pervert."

Lucy punched him, leaving him seeing stars. She smiled at Erza and sat in the chair in front of her desk. "So sorry about the mess." She pointed at Natsu. "Levy told me to tell you that you should come tomorrow to my house so that we could spend some girl time. Wendy, Cana, and Mira-san are coming, too. Are you free tomorrow?"

Erza stiffed. She wasn't sure which of the events to not attend; her first date or her first outing with her real friends. She ran every situation she could think of, and she decided to choose her friends instead, thinking that Jellal would understand her situation. It would be quite a sacrifice on her part, because she told herself she would do anything to go with him even for at least five minutes.

"I can go." She mumbled. Lucy clapped giddily.

"I'm so happy you can go! Are you sure you don't have any other plans tomorrow?" Erza shook her head slowly.

Natsu recovered from the punch and gazed at Erza knowingly. "You should choose what you really want, I know you want to." He exited the room with hands in his pockets.

'_I just can't hide anything from that idiot, huh.' _"I'll go, I promise."

"Great! So, I was wondering if you can help me plan the desserts tomorrow. Can you give me an idea or—"

"Strawberry shortcakes, mango crepe, blueberry cheesecake, black forest cake, apricot mango cheesecake, lemon cheesecake..." Erza began; her eyes were shining and you can spot a small drop of drool on the corner of her mouth. You can almost hear her giggling inside."...Apple pies, pineapple pies, egg pies. OH! You should serve fruits also, the assorted kind."

"—or ten." Lucy sweat dropped and wrote Erza's ideas—ahem, orders—on her pink notebook.


End file.
